


Wistful

by outerink (orphan_account)



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Aftertale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Crosstale | XTale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Dreamtale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Errortale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Inktale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Outertale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Reapertale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), Angst, Feelings, Fluff, Fusion, M/M, Multi, Multiverse, Undertale Multiverse, no Nsfw, this may be long, utmv - Freeform, why do i torture you guys like this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:41:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25519690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/outerink
Summary: With everything constantly changing, it only made sense for everyone to be wistful about something.
Relationships: AfterDeath - Relationship, Cross & Ink, Dream & Nightmare, Errink, Error & Blue, Errorink, Geno/Reaper, Ink/Error, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Sans/Sans (Undertale), Star Sanses - Relationship
Comments: 11
Kudos: 25





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No characters are by me unless stated otherwise.

Tears rolled down Dream’s cheekbones five centuries after he first shed them.

He looked around with wide eyes. Everything seemed so  _ different.  _ Maybe this was because he was deprived of his senses for so long, or maybe it was because things were far more different than he remembered them being? There was no way to know for sure.

Colors were  _ everywhere.  _ The grass beneath him was dead and uncomfortable to sit on, but he felt too numb to move at the moment. Bits and pieces of his stone prison surrounded him, sticking into his bones and making him feel a sharp pain in his legs. Above him, the sky was dark and the clouds were gray. It was eerily silent aside from the wind blowing through the overgrown plants surrounding him.

Slowly, he looked down at his hands and flexed his fingers. After doing this for a while a small smile came over his features.

This  _ wasn’t _ a dream. This was  **_reality._ **

For five hundred years, he was frozen in place. He couldn’t move, see, hear, or even speak, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t feel what was happening around him. The longer he hid in a statue, the more and more negative his surroundings became. It had been so long since he felt fear from any of the villagers, however, and a quick glance at where the village once stood explained the meaning behind it. 

What used to be a small and gorgeous town was now nothing more than ancient ruins. From the looks of it, the buildings had not only been burned down but had been destroyed by hand as well. Not even a single living thing could be seen anywhere around him. 

With horror, he turned to the side and saw what looked to be a decayed tree cut in half. Sadness stung into his core at the sight of it. That wasn’t just any tree. That was the Tree of Feelings. Long ago, it was large and full of life. Apples of positivity and negativity grew from it. Most of his happiest memories centered around him and his brother leaning against it together.

Ah yes, Nightmare. The name alone brought a smile to his face. Even if his brother always declined it, Dream knew that he was stronger than him in multiple ways. It was for that reason that he looked up to his brother so much. 

Wait.

Fear came over him and he stood up. He had to force his stiff legs to move, but this was the least of his concerns. “Nightmare?!”

He called out his name hopelessly. Where was he?! Tears filled his eyes when he realized that his brother could very well be dead at this point. 

_ What happened to this place? None of this is familiar,  _ he thought to himself.  _ Why is everything so dark? Why can’t I feel any positivity? _

It was at that point when he felt it. Everything around him was practically  _ emitting  _ negativity. No wonder he was in so much pain on top of being incredibly sore.

A pained grunt escaped him as more tears fell. There had to be positivity somewhere-  _ anywhere.  _ When he finally saw a spark of happiness, he reached out for it desperately. 

The small spark got larger and larger as he got closer to it. When he finally reached it, his hand went through it. Confused, he stepped forward, fully stepping into the bright aura that he hadn’t seen in so long.

He stumbled through it. Within mere moments, he was in a completely different world.

Fortunately, his fall wasn’t too bad. Sure, another shot of pain ran through his left leg, but he had been through far worse. 

“Woah, are you okay?”

That was a voice he didn’t recognize. When he looked up and saw the silhouette of another skeleton, his eyes widened, “N-Nightmare?!”

Someone else walked up next to the first skeleton.

“Did he just call you  _ Nightmare?”  _ The newcomer asked. Within only a few seconds, he burst out laughing.

The first skeleton chuckled before shaking his skull and getting a little closer to Dream.

“Sorry, bud. I’m Outer, not Nightmare.” 

Dream sat up with wide eyes. Not only was this ‘Outer’ person a skeleton, but his friend was one as well. 

“Sorry,” He whispered, forcing himself to stand up awkwardly. Flushing in embarrassment, he glanced at the person laughing.

“That’s Ink,” Outer said before he could even ask. 

“Nice to meet ya!” ‘Ink’ greeted once he finally calmed down a little. Then, his face twisted into one of confusion, “Pal, who  _ are  _ you…? I don’t recognize you.”

Oh boy. The smaller skeleton laughed nervously.

**This was going to be hard to explain.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Wistfulverse! Worry not dear readers, I will be using TWs on the heavier chapters!


	2. Happier Days

“Aaaaaaand… done!”

Blue was sitting on an extra chair that Papyrus brought out from the back room. He held a stack of cards in his hands with a beam on his face. Finally, after what felt like an eternity of taking down notes on everyone, he was finished.

“Done already, kiddo?”

He turned to Sans, who was leaning on the counter and grinning at him lazily. Behind him, Papyrus could be seen cleaning  _ something.  _ The two of them owned the shop called ‘Skelebro’s’ together that sold a little bit of everything in it such as clothes, food, toys, and more. They were no stranger to the small skeleton’s visits.

Blue nodded rapidly and lowered his voice for extra effect, “Introduciiinnnnnggggg… THE MAGNIFICENT SANS’ GUIDE TO EACH AND EVERY SKELETON WHO LIVES IN STARLINE!”

He placed the cards down on the counter and beamed at Sans, “Who would you like to know more about?! Pick a name, any name!”

Sans thought for a moment before shrugging his shoulders, “I dunno. Comet?”

“Comet!” The smaller repeated, looking through the thick pile of cards before pulling one out, “He’s the younger brother of Outer and is the Papyrus from Outertale! His favorite food is chocolate chip cookies and his favorite color is blue! His dream is to one day join the Multiversal Guard!”

The other nodded slowly, “Nice. He’s right about the color blue, though. It’s really OUTER this world!”

“SANS!” Papyrus could be heard groaning in the background. The older brother shrugged his shoulders before winking at Blue, who was laughing at his horrible pun.

“I’m not wrong.”

“I should probably go show the others!” Blue collected his cards together and tied them together with a rubber band, “They’re going to be so impressed that I’ll have to make some for the entire  _ multiverse!  _ Mweh heh heh!”

Without even saying a formal goodbye, the small skeleton ran out of the store and quickly made his way down the street. The weather was gorgeous and everyone was outside enjoying it. Occasionally, someone would shoot a hello to him to which he would always return the favor.

The Star Timeline, also known as it’s shorter name, the Starline, was a place where only skeletons could live. It was sort of like the Omega Timeline in some ways although it was also its own unique kinda thing. Most people weren’t sure how to explain it.

Blue lived in a decently sized home fairly close to the center of the large universe. It wasn’t too big but it wasn’t too small, either. In his opinion it was the perfect size for everyone who lived there.

He rushed up the stairway and threw the door open absentmindedly, “Hi, I’m back! Wait, are you guys even her-  _ AGH!” _

His sudden cry was accompanied by him dropping his cards. Something had pinned him onto the floor and he tried his hardest to keep it from reaching his skull. He didn’t know what it was, why it was here, or how it even got here in the first place, but those were the last thoughts on his mind at the moment.

It looked like a large duck that had a sharp beak and four moth wings. Amusingly, it  _ quacked  _ as well, leading him to believe that it probably  _ was  _ some weird mix of a duck and a moth. He didn’t have to worry about it for long because it was suddenly hit in the head with a blue arrow.

With wide eyes, he watched as it slowly died on top of him. As soon as it was dead he pushed it off of him and frowned. His savior was a skeleton that was smaller than most Sanses were but was larger than he was. The thing that stood out most about him was his yellow eyelights.

Almost as soon as the duck thing was off of Blue, his bow turned back into a golden rod and he rushed over to the other’s side. “Blue, are you okay?”

“I’m fine!” He quickly sat up and beamed, stars forming in his eyes. “Wowzers, it was awesome how quickly you formed your weapon, Dream!”

The other skeleton, Dream, perked up at his compliment, “Hehe, thank you! I’ll be sure to show you a demonstration sometime!”

He helped Blue up. Curious as to whatever just happened, he laughed nervously, “What was that thing anyways?”

“A certain someone tried to create again. Turns out that it wasn’t a good idea.”

Both he and Dream turned to face the speaker. This skeleton has an orange and blue jacket along with a matching set of pants. His slippers were light blue. Despite his rather aesthetically-pleasing appearance, he wore an exhausted expression.

“Hi Outer!” Blue greeted. ‘Outer’ just nodded in his direction, clearly too tired to have a full conversation.

Behind him, more quacking could be heard. Within mere seconds, more of the weird duck-moth things knocked him out of the way and flew into the room.

“How many of these are there?!” Dream asked, turning the rod into a bow and arrow again. 

“Only five, including the one that’s dead.”

Finally, the voice belonging to the last resident of this household could be heard. He looked the oddest out of the three of them. His bones were completely light gray except for the blue blotch that looked like a stain on his left cheekbone. On his right cheekbone, however, had a thick black stream running from his eye. His left sclera was the typical black while his right was a bright red. While his left eyelight constantly changed shape and color, his right eyelight had a yellow comea. However, inside of the yellow was a blue pupil, one that would occasionally change shape as well.

“Hi Contrast!” Blue greeted, only for his words to fall upon deaf ears when one of the ducks let out a terrifying screech.

It was at that moment when he got an idea. Although he had cards for just about everyone in Starline, he was yet to have anything down for himself as well as the other Star Sanses. 

After tossing a few bones at one of the odd creatures, he ran to the storage room and grabbed some paper. With the inclusion of the others he would finally have a complete guide for any newcomers.

“Dream, the embodiment of positive emotions. Special abilities include teleporting to positive universes, absorbing good energy from the people around him…”

He watched as the positive skeleton quickly healed one of Outer’s broken bones.

“...he can heal people and also have super strength and super speed!” Stars filled his eyelights once again as he wrote this down, “He’s really talkative, nice, and friendly! Although he can get too stressed out over small things sometimes…”

“Blue, up here!”

He looked up and saw Outer on top of the stairwell. After nodding, he leapt up and dashed up to join him. When another duck went after him, the Sans quickly pushed him out of the way and began to fight it.

Blue knew he was going to write about next, “Outer, also known as the Sans from Outertale! He has special abilities like controlling gravity, teleporting, summoning Gaster Blasters, and floating!”

Outer successfully killed the duck before running over to Dream in order to help him. Blue smiled to himself.

“Although he can be a little shy when you first meet him, he’s very laid back, friendly, trustworthy, and supportive once you get to know him!”

He was too distracted to notice the angry duck charging at him. Before he could even process what was happening, he was suddenly wrapped in strings and placed in the bathroom. 

“Stay in here until they’re fully gone,” Contrast commanded. Blue nodded, watching as the door closed behind him. Well, guess he was stuck in here now.

Again, he muttered the words as he wrote them down, “Contrast. Some of his special abilities include the ability to create and destroy things, the ability to summon strings, the ability to teleport, and the ability to open portals!”

He had to think for a moment before coming up with a description. Even if he had known Contrast since he first moved here the other was still such a mystery to him. Truthfully, it seemed that nobody knew everything about him, even if they were  _ really _ close to him.

“Blue, you can come out now!” Dream’s voice brought him back into reality. He opened the door and walked back into the living room. The ducks weren’t there anymore but the entire room was a mess. 

“Can you help us clean?” The embodiment of positivity himself questioned with a frown. Although it could be difficult to see, it was easy to tell whenever he was beginning to get anxious or stressed. 

“Sure!” Blue chirped, making his way over to one of the counters and beginning to organize the fallen decorations, “Guys, listen! I want to make spectacular trading cards of you four!”

Contrast seemed confused.  _ “Four?” _

“Including myself!” He held up the cards he already had with a prideful expression.

“Sure, why not?” Outer cleaned the last stain on the floor and tossed the rag into one of many laundry piles.

“Wait,” Dream interrupted, eyeing Contrast as he walked into the room, “We all need to finish helping out around town.”

“Oh, right,” Contrast groaned, “That’s boring…”

The glare from the yellow eyed skeleton quickly made the other shut up.

“I know! I can just go with one of you, take notes, then go onto the next! It’s a magnificent plan!”

“Sounds good to me,” Outer shrugged.

* * *

Blue decided to follow Outer first. He seemed to be the most chill when it came to answering questions.

The two of them were in the woods in order to get balls and other things of the sort out of the trees. At times like these, Outer’s ability to control gravity came in handy. He brought balls down without even having to think twice about it.

As he did this, Blue was holding onto his deck of cards and walking along with him. He was now on the back of the card where he was supposed to write in facts.

“What’s your favorite food or drink?”

Outer hummed. “Maybe moon dust? I dunno, kiddo.”

Oh, right. Outertale.

He wrote it down nonetheless, putting in parentheses that moon dust was  _ exactly _ what the readers were thinking of right now. Small rocks from the moon.

“How about your favorite hobby? Or any fun talents you have?”

He shrugged, “Anything including science, I guess.”

“Hoooow abouuuut a catchphrase?”

“Heh.”

There was a moment of silence before Blue spoke again.

“Your catchphrase is ‘heh’?” When Outer nodded, Blue frowned, “That’s so boring!”

“It’s kinda like your ‘mweh heh heh’ but-”

“No, just heh by itself is lame!”

Despite him knowing that the other was just teasing him, he was still having a hard time trying to think up a catch phrase for him.

“Howzabout… ‘I need some space.’”

Yet another pun that was so bad it made Blue laugh. He wrote it down and sighed, “Oh,  _ fine.” _

They were finally back in the main part of the universe now. All of the balls were out of the trees and young skeletons could now play.

“Why aren’t there ever any humans here?” Blue asked out of curiosity. Outer visibly tensed and set a hand on his shoulder.

“The Star Timeline, or Starline, is like the Omega Timeline, but it’s just for skeletons is all. Don’t worry about the reasoning behind it, it’s just for the better.”

Not too long ago, Blue moved here with his brother Stretch. Their universe was on the verge of being completely negative and they weren't doing too well. They were saved by Contrast after the small skeleton accidentally tripped on one of his shoes and spilled paint.

“Okay!” He replied, secretly knowing that Outer was probably hiding something. He glanced in the distance and perked up, “Oh, there’s Dream! I’m gonna go get his information!”

“Cya!”

And with that, Blue was running off again.

* * *

“What’s your favorite food?”

“Uhm… mangoes, I guess.”

“Wonderful choice!”

Dream was going through the group’s storage compartment when Blue suddenly arrived. He was happy to answer the questions he was being asked.

“Favorite color?”

“Dark purple is nice.”

“And catchphrase?”

His yellow eyelights darted to the side before he laughed. “I don’t think I have one.”

“Let's make one up! Maybe…” He followed the other when he began to walk again, “Light always wins in the end?”

“No!” He replied frantically. When Blue’s expression got more worried he spoke again, “Sorry! Let’s just… here, how about ‘Live good, dream well’ or something like that! Oh, or even ‘the two most powerful warriors are patience and time’?”

“Isn’t that from a book?” He tilted his skull before shrugging, “I’ll just write the first one down!”

This resulted in silence. Only the leaves crunching beneath their feet made any sound. 

Soon they arrived back at their house. Dream frowned, “You should rest, you look exhausted.”

“Wait, I need to talk to Contrast still! Have you seen him?”

“Not since he left…”

“I, the magnificent Sans, will find him myself! Mweh heh heh!” He grabbed the cards and ran away again, ignoring Dream calling out his name behind him.

* * *

There still weren’t any signs of Contrast around. It worried Blue a little, although he knew that the odd skeleton always returned after a few days.

He went up to the second floor of an apartment building and knocked on the door. Stretch looked surprised to see him, although that didn’t mean he wasn’t happy.

“Blue! Are you here to talk to your big bro?” He teased.

“Not today, I’m sorry! Have you seen Contrast at all? He isn’t at our house or anything!”

Stretch shook his skull, “Sorry, nope.”

Many people wondered why they didn’t live in the same house, but the answer was quite simple. Blue was a part of the Star Sanses. He had to live with them and he was happy to. Stretch didn’t seem to mind either, as long as he still got to see his younger brother everything was alright.

“Awh, okay…”

* * *

A few hours had passed. It was getting dark out and Blue was sure that the others were probably worried. Maybe Contrast had already returned home and he was looking around for nobody.

He rushed back home and flung the door open. Sure enough, the odd skeleton was sitting there with the others.

“Blue-!” Dream sighed, “There you are…”

“I was looking for Contrast!”

He was easily the smallest of the group. This is why Contrast had no problem picking him up and holding him close.

“I was in another universe,” He admitted before smiling. “Now, for your cards… my favorite color is rainbow, except the colors that aren’t too bright, and my favorite food is… I don’t eat much! My catchphrase is… ‘Shut up’ or something like that.”

Stars filled Blue’s eyes and he grinned at the others. “You told him!”

Both Dream and Outer nodded, chuckling at his soft expression. Blue was one of the only people who he could touch without getting too scared. 

They watched as Blue wrote down the final answers before holding the cards up, “I’ve done it! Everyone has a card now!”

“You did say you would do yourself,” Outer pointed out. 

“Right! Well, I’m Blue, my special abilities are teleportation and stuff and my favorite food is tacos! My favorite color is teal and my catchphrase is… ‘We’ll always save the day’!”

“From that song you wrote us ages ago?” Contrast questioned. Blue nodded.

“Yep! It’s true! Nightmare and his team can try to defeat us but—  _ boom! Bam! Bang!  _ We’ll always win!”

At the mention of Nightmare’s name, Dream frowned and glanced away once again. Outer set a hand on his shoulder.

“You’re right, Blue!” Contrast grinned, “The Star sanses  _ will  _ always save the day!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just some nice, fluffier things before things start getting serious.

**Author's Note:**

> my tumblr: outerink


End file.
